


Dream estate

by hazk



Series: Surviving Students: Fifteen [5]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Friendship, Gen, No Plot/Plotless, Post-Canon, Writing Exercise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-14 08:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16909302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazk/pseuds/hazk
Summary: Home visits, friends, and the future.





	Dream estate

The first time they met, after everything, was a rare yet welcome surprise for Hinata

“I wasn’t expecting to see you”, Hinata said and gestured for Naegi to follow him – Naegi, who had become one of the most important figures in the world without having lost any of that light that had brought them this far.  

And Naegi laughed, a hand at the back of his neck and relaxed in a way no other outsider was around the Remnants. That, if anything, was proof of how strong he was.

Hinata was happy to see him.

“Yeah, well, I wanted to check up on you – it’s been a while”, Naegi replied and the two began their walk down the path while the rest of the crew began to unload the supplies out of the ship, as usual. “As you know, I’m always looking for a way to sneak out for a second or two…”

“Even taking a break has become business with you, you must be here for a reason”, Hinata pointed out and glanced at the other. “Which is?”

Naegi bit his lip and nodded his head in acknowledgement, his eyes sharper as he thought on his answer. “No use trying to hide anything from you, right”, he said, still with a smile. “So… I’m the first on a list of people who will come here to, well… _evaluate_ your progress.”

Hinata blinked, a little surprised again, and turned to Naegi without a pause in their steps. “People who know who we are, I hope.”

“Oh, yes, of course!” Naegi assured. “There aren’t many who do, so the ‘list’ isn’t long. For now.”

Hinata’s brow rose and he turned his eyes back on the road. Walking on his left side, Naegi could only see his red eye and seemed to focus on it.

“That sounds like a warning", Hinata said.

Naegi hummed before his gaze dropped, waving a hand in dismissal. He replied:

“It might be? Depends on how you and your friends will take it. Or, how you will get along with some new faces if it all works out.”

They shared a brief look, almost up to the houses now.

“You still haven’t told me anything”, Hinata pointed out. “Are you waiting to see if I can figure it out on my own?”

It wouldn’t have been the first time he would have, and Hinata didn’t complain seeing how he considered Naegi one of the few who knew more about him than maybe even he himself did. In that odd sense, the realization had long since become more of a relief than a worry.

“And have you? Figured it out?”

“It doesn’t matter”, Hinata scoffed and shook his head a little, in an attempt to stop himself from doing just that. “I’d rather you told me.”

They stepped up to the houses and were quickly interrupted by some of the others. They were equally surprised to see Naegi on Jabberwock, all on his own and without any word in advance.

It wasn’t a bad distraction, Hinata thought; it was always nice to see his friends comfortable around people that didn’t belong in their little group.

 

* * *

 

They had made their retreat by the seaside, looking over the railing. There had been a long silence already, since Naegi had used some of his break to simply breathe, taking in the changing infrastructure of the island.

There was new life to it, similar to the rest of the world. But seeing it all take place in such a small area, like a test-tube, did bring hope for the parts of the planet yet to be reached.

“The more clarity us and the Foundation are able to bring to this mess, the more aware we become of how difficult everything will be. It gets harder by the day, really.”

“Of course. There are no instant cures available to the aftereffects of brainwashing, and world-wide experiences of trauma.”

“People don’t trust each other, is a good way to sum it up”, Naegi sighed out in agreement. “Every individual is… either difficult or dangerous, and there is no way to know what will set them off.”

“Unpredictability in a massive scale was… to be expected”, Hinata said, a little uncomfortably at the mixed emotions the words caused him to rifle through. Once, it had been his guiding force, and he hated to admit the underlying appeal it still had on him. “You are saying it will soon reach us here on Jabberwock.” He shared another look with Naegi, out of understanding more than anything else.

“Yes, well… We are a little stuck, with our resources… The biggest issue regarding you is that everything we provided you, and Jabberwock in general, will need to bring something back to make it worthwhile, at the point we are. If not profit, a benefit; more than just keeping you safe. That’s at least how it was explained to me, and I don’t exactly disagree with the solution we came up with…”

“ _’Safe’_ , of course”, Hinata said, the word immediately followed by everything that was Kamukura having enough of the waiting. Blinking, Hinata realized what all the hints Naegi had already dropped must have meant:

“Oh.”

“Did you really not expect it?” Naegi asked, noticing the shift in Hinata’s expression and knowing what it meant. He looked around the elegantly rebuild parts of the island, originally designed as a tourist spot and with plenty of place to offer as it continued to expand. “The world is in ruin, and these islands… They are some of the best we have.”

“Of course, I was just…” Hinata repeated and gestured vaguely at the open seas beyond the railing. “If we are expected to stay out of the world’s way, I didn’t exactly think you’d want to bring _them to us,_ either. Not so soon.”

Naegi hummed under his breath, seemingly in agreement.

“It’s not like we want to bring anyone over for a vacation – but that’s the thing”, Naegi put in, with an almost apologetic look on his face:

“You’re not the only ones in need of a sanctuary. Speaking of ‘them’, you are separating your classmates from the rest of the world as _the_ Despair, but… There is so much more of you; _of us_. More and more, every single individual really, found from the corners of devastation as the Foundation continues to scout each continent…”

Hinata’s mouth opened, suddenly realizing what he had once again forgotten:

“Your school is…”

“It is a promise for something better and ‘more intact’, having learned from our mistakes, I hope”, Naegi said, pausing to bite his lip at the choice of words. “Sure, I have no plans to create a platform that’s anything like Hope’s Peak once was, and you know it, helped me work on it, but…”

“Most of the world was, and still is, being manipulated to an extent. Not just us”, Hinata finished for him, looking at his friend before he continued:

“There was so much more Despair than just the Remnants; on Towa Island alone, not only the surviving adults, but all of those children and the things they will have to live with. They are our future.”

Naegi nodded, slowly, as he let out a heavy, pained breath. “That… That they are… And that’s why we can’t ignore them and how, among us and the rest of the population, there are so, so many of those who can’t find it in themselves to move on the way ‘most suitable’. They are hiding, breaking and dying all over again, and we don’t have the ability to help all of them.”

“’ _Nothing changes overnight’_ ”, Hinata hummed in thought, his brain running through the scenarios and words that the Future Foundation must have used to back their own views. Hinata found himself agreeing with a part of it, the same way Naegi had. “That much is true. There is a sense of urgency in identifying those more dangerous for this new chance we have, and we must be quick to offer them the same opportunities we were given. But.”

“But?”

“You are talking about bringing some of the more… renowned, previous members of Despair here, with us, and that means for them to _meet us_ – the Remnants, as the people who played a major part in guiding them to Despair to begin with. They might even personally know some of us. Blame us, like everyone else." Hinata offered Naegi a small smile, before finishing:

“It could backfire in ways worse than letting them be might.”

Naegi glanced at the sea and crossed his arms, uncomfortably. “I know. It can be a risk.”

“It can, but I do think it’s a risk with a higher chance of success than loss. We must try to help them. They deserve that much; as do we, even just in the form of consequences.”

The younger of them blinked, took in the words, then gave Hinata an appreciative nod. “Ah, I think that, too. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here…” Naegi frowned.

“Good. But”, Hinata repeated, dropping the word with a noticeable pause just to carry the meaning of his reply; “When you bring them here, there needs to be someone in charge that is not me. Whoever it is, you should find them before starting to look over the perimeter.”

Naegi's eyes widened before he let out a rather shocked kind of a laugh. “Right, of course… If you think that is best, I won’t argue. Any suggestions?”

“A few”, Hinata said with his smile growing a little wider. His eyes roamed the landscape that could only be called ‘home’. It could be that for someone else, as well: for those who really needed it.

It could.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Most of my ideas for this series are conversations had while walking around Jabberwock, saying the things I spend way too much of my own time thinking about.
> 
> I’ve never been a fan of Hope’s Peak, sure, but the best thing about how fucked up the world got is Despair being just as “real” now. The Remnants aren’t the only ones hiding and in need of rehabilitation. Could use a “combined schooling system” for Hope & Despair, basically, to learn not to ignore how humans work. Cool.


End file.
